The 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season tied for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals. The two teams played in the first ever regular season tie-breaker to decide the pennant, and the Cardinals took two straight to win the title.
This season was the team's – and Major League Baseball's – last non-integrated one.
Offseason On October 23, 1945, the Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson as a free agent. Robinson was the first black player to be officially a part of a major league organization in over 60 years, since the barring of Fleet and Welday Walker in 1884. For the 1946 season, Robinson was assigned to the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers' top farm team.
Later in the offseason, the Dodgers signed two more players from the Negro leagues, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe, who were assigned to the Nashua Dodgers.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup +Opening Day lineupName Position Pee Wee Reese ShortstopBilly Herman Second basemanDick Whitman Left fielderGene Hermanski Right fielderJack Graham First basemanCarl Furillo Center fielderLew Riggs Third basemanFerrell AndersonCatcherHal Gregg Starting pitcher
Notable transactions April 27, 1946: Jack GrahamJack Graham page at Baseball Reference and Goody RosenGoody Rosen page at Baseball Reference were purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants. June 12, 1946: Don Padgett was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves.Don Padgett page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1946: Billy Herman was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Stew Hofferth.Billy Herman page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 92 292 78 .267 1 25 1B 103 310 75 .242 10 60 2B 144 483 132 .273 0 36 3B 88 242 57 .236 3 27 SS 152 542 154 .284 5 60 OF 117 335 95 .284 3 35 OF 122 423 117 .277 11 73 OF 150 576 184 .319 9 116
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 99 274 85 .310 3 38 104 265 69 .260 2 31 90 249 63 .253 3 27 79 199 51 .256 2 14 47 184 53 .288 0 28 62 120 25 .208 0 7 64 110 22 .200 0 8 41 77 24 .312 2 18 23 48 7 .146 0 5 45 47 13 .277 0 2 19 34 5 .147 0 0 19 30 5 .167 1 9 15 5 0 .000 0 0 2 5 1 .200 0 0 1 4 0 .000 0 0 3 3 1 .333 0 0 3 2 0 .000 0 0 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 1 0 0 ---- 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 42 222.0 14 11 2.84 85 42 210.2 17 8 3.03 134 41 193.0 13 10 2.89 60 26 117.1 6 4 2.99 54
Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 47 150.2 11 5 2.93 78 24 99.2 6 3 1.99 44 24 67.1 3 1 3.88 42 13 56.0 3 2 3.21 17 16 53.2 2 5 5.87 36 11 43.0 3 3 2.30 16 3 6.1 0 0 9.95 6
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 46 11 5 5 1.99 31 35 7 2 5 3.35 34 4 0 0 1 3.86 6 3 0 1 0 6.75 3 1 0 0 0 13.50 0 1 0 0 0 4.50 1 1 0 0 0 inf 0
Awards and honors 1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Dixie Walker starter Kirby Higbe reserve Pee Wee Reese reserve Pete Reiser reserve
League top five finishers Kirby Higbe #2 in NL in strikeouts (134) #3 in NL in wins (17)
Pete Reiser MLB leader in stolen bases (34)
Eddie Stanky #3 in NL in runs scored (98)
Dixie Walker #2 in NL in RBI (116) #3 in NL in batting average (.319)
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Nashua, Newport News, Trois-Rivières, Zanesville
Notes
References Baseball-Reference season page Baseball Almanac season page
External links 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform Brooklyn Dodgers reference site Acme Dodgers page Retrosheet